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IWC Novecento 18K Gold 822 Caliber Curved Watch

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:2,500.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
IWC Novecento 18K Gold 822 Caliber Curved Watch
ABSENTEE-ONLY BIDDING AVAILABLE. HIGHEST BIDS WILL BE TAKEN TO LIVE AUCTION FLOOR.

888 Auctions endeavors to accurately describe the items being sold, but all property offered for sale is strictly as is, where is, and with all faults. All representations or statements made by 888 Auctions and its representatives, or in the catalogue or other publication or report, as to the correctness of description, genuineness, attribution, provenance, or period of the Lot, are statements of opinion only.
Up for sale this rare vintage IWC Novecento Ref. 2550 wristwatch, in a solid 18K gold beautifully shaped case, manufactured in 1993-95's. The watch comes with its nice original IWC 18k solid-gold buckle.

This is a hard to find discontinued model in a rare for IWC long rectangular-shaped nicely curved case, highly sought after by IWC aficionados.

The watch is powered by a brilliant IWC caliber 822, based on a Jaeger-LeCoultre Cal. 822, a legendary 21 jewels tonneau-shape movement, that is still considered as a reference caliber for all form-shaped manual-wind movements. The watch has been fully serviced recently, and is running strong and accurate.

The watch sports a classic-looking black-color dial with original ""Swallow"" hands, rectangular second's sub-dial, applied gold hour markings and ""rail"" minute track.

The 18k solid-gold case is thick and heavy and closes tightly and precisely, secured by six screws on back. The original solid yellow-gold winding crown has a nice vintage-style shape. The original sapphire crystal is clean and free of scratches. This highly collectible timepiece would be an excellent financial investment, always raising its value.

It is supplied with a brand new high-quality lizard leather band, ready to wear and enjoy, and to grace your vintage watches collection.

The photos have been taken of the actual watch offered for sale. It comes with it's original box, no factory papers survived, but I guarantee its authenticity.

CASE:
width - 25 mm (not counting winding crown); length - 41 mm (including lugs); thickness - 7 mm; total weight with band and buckle - 50 g.
18K (0.750) solid yellow-gold; two-piece; signed, numbered and hallmarked; snap back secured by six screws; original yellow-gold winding crown; sapphire scratch-free crystal;

DIAL:
original black-color dial; yellow-gold ""Swallow"" hands, applied gold hour markings; seconds sub-dial at ""6""; ""pearl"" minute track; signed;

MOVEMENT:
genuine Swiss Made manual-wind 17 jewels International Watch Co. 822 caliber (based on Jaeger-LeCoultre Cal. 822), 21 jewels, 2.94mm thin; 45 hour power reserve; 21,600 A/h, 7¾ x 10 lignes, 22.6 x 17.2 mm, indirect seconds; adjusted and tested in 5 positions; signed and numbered; excellent working and keeping time;

BAND:
brand-new Alpine 19 mm black lizard leather band; original signed IWC 18k solid-gold buckle; total length of the watch with band and buckle 9 1/4"" (23.5 cm).

Brief history of IWC 822 (based on Jaeger-LeCoultre 822 Caliber) movement:
Calibre 822 is a sophisticated manual winding movement which could be found within some of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s iconic Reverso’s variants. Take an examples, the Reverso Grand Taille series which was officially unveiled in 1991, or the Grande Reverso Ultra-Thin Tribute to 1931 that not so long ago was introduced at the SIHH 2011. More than 20 years, this mechanical movement has been proven to be a reliable one.

Jaeger-LeCoultre 822 is an in-house manufacture movement that is developed, designed, and produced by JLC itself. A fully mechanical movement that showcases the true heritage of traditional Swiss watchmaking virtuosity, that is meticulously assembled and personally decorated by the hands of JLC’s talented watchmakers in its Le Sentier, Vaud, Switzerland based workshop. Regardless its host comes with an exhibition or solid caseback, all of its kind were delivered with a good degree of finishing that includes Côtes de Genève decorations on its bridges. And speaking of functionality offerings, it provides two hands and a small second display at six.

The movement, which bears all of the traditional characteristics of a JLC movement including the signature four bridge design and features a decent degree of shock as well as magnetism resistance, consists of 134 individual components. This nine lignes calibre comes in a baguette (tonneau) shape, and often highlighted by its slim profile that is less than 3 mm in thickness —to be exact, it is 2.94 mm thick.

As far as we know, this movement was never submitted by the maker for COSC certification. However, it is widely known that Jaeger-LeCoultre has its own quality control called the 1000 Hours Control, which presumably even stricter than COSC’s qualification method. In a way, it can be said that its performance would be at least on par with those who are certified as Chronometer grade movements."